Ahly to train at home in run-up to Nigeria clash

Egypt's Ahly have decided to cancel their training camp in either the UAE or Kuwait and will train in Cairo instead in the run-up to their match against Nigerian side Sunshine Stars in the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League. The Red Devils had been planning to hold a training camp in either the UAE or Kuwait, but the club's football committee has opted against the idea. "We've decided to cancel the camp [in the Gulf] to avoid exhausting our players," Hady Khashaba, a member of Ahly's executive committee, told the club's official website. "The team will play two friendly matches at a local training camp that will start on 23 or 24 September and last for five or six days," football director Sayed Abdel-Hafiz explained. The Ahly squad will travel to Nigeria to face Sunshine Stars on 4 October. The game will be held within three days of their arrival. Ahly, record winners of Africa’s premier club competition with six titles under their belt, reached the Champions League semis after topping Group B with 11 points, one ahead of second-placed TP Mazembe of DR Congo.